Page 375 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

374 Part 4 • Leading
Skill Basics needs are dominant and unsatisfied, then choosing rewards that
will help satisfy those needs.
Attempting to motivate others is a complex task. Unfortunately,
no universal motivators are available that are guaranteed to • Link rewards to performance. The rewards you choose
work on anyone, anywhere. That said, we do know a lot about should be allocated so as to be contingent on performance.
what works and doesn’t work in terms of motivating others. Importantly, the person you’re trying to motivate must
The following suggestions summarize the essence of what we perceive a clear linkage. Regardless of how closely rewards
know is likely to be effective. 74 are actually correlated to performance criteria, it’s percep-
tion that counts. If individuals perceive this relationship to
• Recognize individual differences. People have different
needs. Don’t treat them all alike. Moreover, spend the time be low, motivation and performance will suffer.
necessary to understand what’s important to each person. • Maintain equity. Rewards should be perceived by people
This will allow you to individualize goals, level of involve- in the organization as equating with the inputs they bring
ment, and rewards to align with individual needs. to their job. At a simplistic level, it means that experience,
• Use goals and feedback. People prefer to have goals. If skills, abilities, effort, and other obvious inputs should
you’re in a position to assign or participate in setting goals explain differences in performance and, hence, pay, job
for others, help them to set hard and specific goals. These assignments, and other obvious rewards.
are most likely to motivate. In addition, individuals are
most likely to be motivated when they get feedback on how Practicing the Skill
well they are faring in the pursuit of their goals.
Read through this scenario and follow the directions at the end
• Allow people to participate in decisions that affect them. If of it:
you are in a position to influence the level of participation,
actively seek input from the person you seek to motivate. Sean’s first job out of college is as a supervisor for Lyle’s
Employees are especially likely to respond positively when Catering Services. One of Lyle’s main businesses is managing
allowed to participate in setting work goals, choosing their the food service operations at colleges and hospitals.
benefit packages, solving productivity and quality prob- Sean has been given responsibility for the cafeteria at
lems, and the like. St. Paul College. He has a staff of approximately 12 full-time
and 15 part-time workers. The cafeteria is open 7 days a week,
• Link rewards to unsatisfied needs. Recommendations #2 from 6:30 a.m. until 8 p.m.
and #3 apply most directly to managers or team leaders Sean has been in the job eight months and has become
trying to motivate their employees or team members. Ef- frustrated by the high employee turnover. Just since he’s been
fectively linking rewards to unsatisfied needs is a more on the job, three full-time and six part-time people have quit.
generalizable action: It applies to motivating colleagues, Sean went back and looked at the personnel records for the past
friends, spouses, customers—as well as employees and five years and this pattern has been a constant. He’s frustrated
team members. It builds on recommendation #1 and indi- by the cost and time involved in continually hiring and training
vidual differences.
new people. He’s decided he needs to do something.
Depending on your position in an organization and your re- Sean has begun informally talking to employees. None
sources, the rewards you control will vary. For example, senior- seem particularly enthusiastic about their jobs. Even some
level executives typically can control pay increases, bonuses, of the “old timers”—who’ve worked in the cafeteria for six
promotion decisions, job assignments, and training decisions. years or more—have little enthusiasm for their work. In fact,
They also can usually control job design such as allowing the part-timers seem more motivated than the full-timers even
employees more freedom and control over their work, improv- though the average part-timer makes only $11.50 an hour
ing working conditions, increasing social interactions in the versus the full-timers’ $15.00.
workplace, or modifying the workload. But everyone can offer The class should form into small groups. Assume you are
others rewards such as recognition or providing sympathetic Sean. How can you improve the staff’s motivation and reduce
and sensitive help with problems. The key is identifying what the turnover rate?